“It’s not a matter of if a soldier cracks, it’s a matter of when. Everyone has their breaking points…”

His company had six Mechs left, fifty percent casualties. All things considered they had been spared the harshest of the fighting. The six remaining Mechs of the second company first battalion were divided into two lances of three Mechs apiece. The Mechwarrior manipulated the controls of his Cetus, urging forward. “This is Alpha lead to Bravo One, you copy?” The armor of the Mech was hastily re-patched and his weapons, the one that needed it, reloaded. The two lances were spread thin over the deforested terrain.

“This is Bravo One I’m reading you Hauptmann.” Lieutenant Mitchell replied. “It looks like we’re in the clear.

“Good Lieutenant.”

“Sir this is Beta Three I’m getting something on my screens, intermittent contact. It’s probably just another ground car moving out of the area. I’m moving to check it out.”

“Confirmed Beta Three, I have the contact just over the ridge.” Mitchell replied. There was an awkward pause, “Lead, command is saying we should hold position until Beta Three checks out that contact.”

“Alright, everyone slow to a crawl, let beta three check out the contact.” The Hauptman sat behind his controls and contemplated. He remembered the terrain map of the operational area and that the Smoke Jaguars have given up completely the standard clan way of fighting, their honor system. “Beta Three get out there! I think it’s a trap!”

Somewhere just before trap Beta Three called out, “We have two scouts! Light Mechs!”

“This is Mitchell I’m moving in to support Beta Three. Beta Two join Alpha lance.”

“Mitchell do not break off, hold the line repeat hold the line this could all be part of their plan! This entire thing stinks of a trap!” It was too late Mitchell and Alpha Three were already over the ridge and engaging the two clan light Mechs. “I repeat return to your position!”

“We’ve got this sir!” Mitchell yelled back. “We’ve got these bastards!” Everyone had lost friends, but this sudden lack of discipline was still out of character. They were the 11th Lyran guard, an elite FedCom Regiment. And Lieutenant Mitchell was too far out, if he was attacked they wouldn’t be able to get to him in time, and if the rest of the company abandoned their position the entire right flank would be open to attack.

“I’m detecting cold starts!” Beta Two announced suddenly.

“Mitchell get the hell out of there now!” Hauptmann yelled before taking a deep breath, “Beta Two give me numbers how many cold starts?”

“Thirteen Mechs, plus the two scouts,” Beta two replied. “Call it a Trinary.”

“This is Beta Lead we’re getting pounded!”

The Hauptman looked at his underling on his screens and noticed the readings saying that armor was rapidly being stripped from his lancemates Heavy Mech. “Mitchell Eject! Get the hell out of there! Mitchell…!” Only a scream and static answered him. “Alright Alpha Lance, form up. Hold the line, nothing gets through!” The Cestus moved to point at the right flank, and the rest of the lance formed up around him. He quickly informed command of what was transpiring and was promised support as soon as soon as it could get there. They only needed to hold out long enough.

The first enemy Mechs came over the ridge and began to duck into the large trench line. There was two clan Vipers and several other light Mechs. Taking in a deep breath the Mechwarrior fired his Gauss Rifle. The precisely aimed shot through adrenaline or luck smashed into the cockpit of one of the Vipers killing the pilot instantly.

The enemy Mechs vanished from sight under a small hill. The Lyran Lance lurched forward. “Sir we have another wave of enemies coming in from behind us. We’re surrounded.”

“Beta Two take Alpha three and cover out rear.” The Cestus was suddenly confronted by a tiny Commando IIC, one of the IS Mechs salvaged and upgraded with clan tech. The Hauptmann opened up with all of his weapons blowing off an arm with a large laser and puncturing the enemy’s head with another Gauss shot. The enemy Mech lay on the ground and the young officer could see the bloody mess inside the exposed head. Normally Mech Warriors were spared these horrific sights.

Beta Two and Alpha three were under heavy fire, it was only a matter of time until they were down. Alpha Two was tangling with a nearby Hunchback and a second Viper. He had given as good as he got but weight and technology was against him, in addition the poor soldiers Mech was damaged from previous fights and not operating at full capacity.

Another Commando stood in the Cestus’s way as he tried to reach Alpha Two. A volley stripped it bare, melting off most of his armor. The Gauss rifle ripped off the small Mechs left arm. It didn’t take much for the next barrage of weapons fire to break the small mech sending it toppling down. It was too late though, Alpha two was already combat ineffective. “Get out of here Hutch!” the Cestus pilot yelled. “I’ll cover you.”

The Cestus moved between the Clan forces and Alpha Two who was disengaging. “Come on you bastards…” he said firing a Salvo at both the Clan Hunchback and the Viper. Long Range Missiles from a Mad Cat Mech punched into his side burning armor off his mechs right torso. He primed his Gauss rifle and took careful aim; three headshots in one battle, the second Viper went down the same as the first.

The Torso of the Cetus twisted and fired a long burst of laser fire at the Huncback while avoiding fire from the Mad Cat’s LRM.

The battle raged a duel between the two Mechs, with a constant stream of LRM fire from the Mad Cat pouring in, until a Gauss slug from the Cestus tore into a hole in the lighter Mechs armor causing an explosion in its ammo and destroying the Clanner.

Limping now the Cestus turned to face the Mad Cat but was instead hit from behind by a Loki, what the clans called a Hellbringer. Using his jump jets the pilot closed the distance between him and the enemy turning to attack. The two exchanged fire for what seemed like hours melting armor off each other’s Mechs. “Not like this.” The Hauptmann said when it became apparent he was getting the worse of the exchange. Between the damage he was now taking and the damage he had taken from earlier in the engagement he realized he didn’t have much time left. “Not like this!” he repeated yelling, “If I’m going down I’m taking you bastards with me!”

The Cestus darted forward limping as it ran. All of its weapons fired as he charge his opponent. The Loki rocked from the blasts as it returned fire with its own weapons peeling one of the Cestus’s arms off. The Lyran Guardsmen reached the enemy smashing into it. The Pilot watched as the enemy Mech began to topple its gyro’s and engines taken out. The Cestus too fell backward from the impact.

Upon hitting the ground the pilot was knocked unconscious. There was no telling how long he was out, however when he woke up he saw a horrible sight. The Mad Cat from earlier had closed the distance and was now looming over his Mech like a predator over his meal. His vision began to blur when a sudden flash enveloped the Mad Cat Mech and the air lit up from another firefight. He passed out again. When next he came to it would be to a familiar face…

“Lucan? Lucan Vintari?” a voice called as two fingers pressed against his throat.

The Pilot opened his eyes. “Yes…?” He asked meekly.

“Christ. You don’t even recognize your old friend Klaus?”

“Vogelburg?” He asked under squinting eyes. He felt that if he opened them too much they would fall out. He could see dropships descending and a bustle of activity. “My company?”

“You are the only one we’ve seen so far, one guy, Hutch, made it back to base….”

Tears were streaming down the Hauptmann’s eyes. He didn’t’ know it at the time, but, eighty percent of his regiment had been decimated. Over half his friends, people he had known since he was a kid out of the Academy, killed in the bloody campaign. All the death, and all the sadness in his heart and yet all he could do when he saw the dropships was laugh, as if the mere sight of them was some secret joke. Bulldog had arrived…

“Everyone welcome Hero of the hour back from the wars, the son of your very own Duke, Lucan Vintari!” Lucan hated this, but it was the part he had to play. He stepped into the room, flanked by his old Academy friend, and cousin, Klaus Vogelburg, and squinted at the bright lights. His Uniform was clad with medals of merit that wore heavily on his chest. Fanfare and foolery, that’s what these parties’ have ever been, a place for the aristocracy to play. Now the proud son had returned, back home to Cartago.

Last edited by Halcyon508 on Tue Feb 17, 2009 3:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Isis Vintari didn't stand up with the others as Lucan entered the room. She remained seated at the large table setup for the Duke's family and stared indignantly at the empty chair that was reserved for her cousin. She resented him for leaving her behind while he went off to fight in the Clan wars. All their life the two of them had been rivals, but Lucan had always overshadowed her ever since they were kids. He was the Duke's son so naturally he was favored above the rest and as much as she loved her cousin his underserved fame irked her most of all.

She sipped lightly from the cup she held between two fingers then placed it gently onto the table's surface. She was dressed in a long, flowing cerulean gown with pearls draped around her neck. Her auburn locks were allowed to fall freely around her face, framing it as they spilled across her bare shoulders. She watched the procession with a steely blue gaze as Lucan was led into the gallery and applauded for his heroics.

I hope it was worth it, Cousin, abandoning me like that, she thought quietly to herself...

Lucan smiled and shook hands and greeted everyone who approached him. It was his duty same as any other, although in all honesty he would rather have been left alone. As he walked through the crowd a familiar face broke through like a ray of sunshine. “Tristan!” he said as he ignored many of the gathers and walked straight towards the young lad. “How is my favorite little brother?”

“I’m your only younger brother!” the boy replied as Lucan gave him an embrace.

“Well you look good! I’m surprised I didn’t see you when I landed.” Lucan’s smile became real now, genuine.

“I wanted to! But studies and all, you know how it is.”

“Yes I do.” Lucan said opening his mouth to speak again. A stern look from his father however silenced him. “I need to work the crowd. We’ll meet up later and me and Klaus will tell you some stories.” He winked and began moving through the crowd. Everyone dissipated and began to enjoy the ball for what it was. Slow dances and waltz ended up consuming the time of the guests. Lucan didn’t really want to dance. At his table he noticed a woman sitting, he didn’t recall having shook her hand yet. She was gorgeous. He approached her with a smile, “I’m Lucan Vintari.” The young man extended his hand. He had been gone for nine years, it was reasonable that he wouldn’t recognize his cousin.

"I know who you are, Cousin," Isis replied idignantly, sipping at her drink again before placing the cup back down on the table. She turned to Lucan then and stared hard at him before coming to a sudden realization. "You really don't recognize me at all, do you?" She said with a laugh, smiling at her cousin, "Those Clanners must have messed you up more than I thought."

As Lucan looked into the woman’s eyes realization hit him. “You were eleven when I left.” He said softly. “And you never wrote.” He recalled his hand and sat down next to her. “I heard you got into the Academy at fifteen. That’s impressive.” It was indeed impressive. Lucan himself had gotten into the Academy at age fourteen. Normal age was sixteen but the children of nobles who show promise were often given special dispensation to attend early. “Then you immediately transferred to Militia duty instead of joining a regiment.” Sighing a little he put a hand on her leg and said, “I wish you would have written. Tristan wrote, Felicia and Jessica wrote. I know all about them and all about what they’re doing. We’re strangers now though….” Sadly he recalled his hand.

"Somebody had to stay here and watch over your father, but you were too busy playing soldier," she snapped at him. Then she looked away and deliberately stared off into space as her hand found her glass again and lifted it to her lips. As he watched her Lucan could have sworn he saw a slight glistening at the corner of her eye. "He missed you, you know," she said finally, still holding the glass in her hand. She wiped the corner of her eye with the other then turned back to him, "And so did I."

Lucan smiled at Isis, “I missed you too…” he said. He would have said more but his other cousin came over.

“Lucan!” he said with a raised glass in his hand. It was clear he had something important to say, however his eyes diverted to the member of the fairer sex. Klaus sat down next to Isis. His attentions were thoroughly diverted from his nobler cousin now. “I’m Klaus Vogelburg.” He said softly taking Isis’s hand and kissing it. The man had blond hair and resembled the youngest of the Vintari’s, Tristan, incredibly. “You may not have heard it. But I saved Lucans life.”

"That's wonderful," Isis replied with mock excitement. Klaus had the bearing of a Lyran and she wasn't too fond of them, not since Katherine Steiner seceded from the Commonwealth with her so-called Lyran Alliance then usurped power from her brother Victor to absorb the Federated Suns. "You saved his life now he gets to save yours," she said, giving the man a hard look which Lucan understood almost immediately.

Clearing his throat Lucan said, “Klaus this is my cousin Isis.” He looked between the two, “And Isis, this is my cousin on my mother side, Klaus.” Its true Klaus was a Lyran and his family had Lyran holdings. It was also true that his father sister had married Franko Vintari, Lucans father. Klaus may have understood the hint was he not a little drunk and has Isis not been as beautiful as she was. “Klaus what did you have to tell me.” Lucan said finally taking his male cousins attention off his female cousin.

“Ah.” Klaus said, “Well since she’s your cousin…”

“Out with it!” Lucan demanded.

“See that blond over there?” Klaus pointed to a woman, stunningly beautiful with a high jaw bone and perfect complexion. She carried herself with a smile and pearly teeth shifting from crowd to crowd. Her body was toned and firm and she wasn’t afraid to show an amount of skin that was skirting inappropriate for this type of occasion.

“Yes she’s the daughter of a Merchant who often exports supplies for us. If I recall correctly…” Lucan said with a smile.

“Of course I can!” Klaus said, “I recognize her from when I left for the Academy.”

“You’re the same age as me!” Lucan said

Klaus spat back, “Yes but I only got in when I was sixteen. Your final year was my first.”

“She looks even younger then we are…” Lucan said in disbelief. “There is no way.”

“She was apprentice to an agent when she was fifteen.” Klaus said, “that’s how they do it sometimes, and young women are often prized in positions like that.”

“And you recognize her? It’s been a long time.” Lucan hadn’t even recognized his own cousin.

“Of course I do! She looks the same just a little more mature!” The sound of Klaus’s voice showed he was serious. “She was dealing with a criminal organization that was thought to be attempting to subvert the Lyran authority.”

“What happened?” Lucan asked but was given a brief look by Klaus as if not to ask. After a slight silence Lucan finally said, “What is Loki doing here?

"Spying on your father, no doubt," Isis replied off-hand. Lucan turned and gave her a surprised look.

"Why--," he started to say, but Isis cut him off.

"Daddy's been playing a dangerous game," she told him, "He's been saying some not-so-nice things about Katrina, but if you ask me I'm surprised they didn't send a Battlemech regiment down here instead."

“I fought under Victor in the wars.” Lucan said, “Albeit briefly. I was transferred to the Tenth Lyran for the last ten days of huntress and was with them at the final battles.” He let out a deep sigh, “I wasn’t with the command company though when they took on the Smoke Jaguars Binary command.” He spat on the ground, “I hear Victor killed the Smoke Jaguar Khan with his bare hands.”

“It’s true.” Klaus spoke up.

“Katrina is a poor substitute for a man like that.” Lucan smiled a bit and looked at Klaus.

“What are you thinking?” Klaus asked.

“I think I’m going to introduce myself.” The noble born got up and walked towards the young woman.

“I hate when he does this.” Klaus said. He watched Lucan talk to the woman. It didn’t take long before the two were playfully touching one another. “I asked him what he says when he does that.” Klaus began, “He told me only fourteen words…” Soon Lucan and the blond Loki agent were heading away from the ballroom. “And onto the coat room,” Klaus rolled his eyes, “Not that I blame him.” Turning to Isis he then said, “So I’m sure you’ve heard the news. The Duke has asked Lucan to take over command of the local Militia. He even bought some old decommissioned Mechs to form a second lance, as a gift to his son.” Laughing a little he then said, “I feel bad for the person he’s replacing. Apparently some blueblood who had never seen a real fight before!”

Isis' hands clenched into fists, but she said nothing as she stood to leave. Klaus was surprised by the sudden reaction of the woman but didn't read into it enough to know what it could mean.

"Hey, wait minute where ya going? We were just getting to know each other," he said, hurrying after her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

Isis spun around and almost instantly planted her right fist into the man's cheek, knocking him to the ground. "Some blueblood who never saw a real fight?" She demanded of him, "I'll show you a real fight!"

The crowd all stopped, Lucan was nowhere in sight. Everyone was staring now at the pair. “Do you always have to sucker-punch a guy you miserable bitch?” Klaus was on the ground from the blow, an inferior position. He got up and stared. “Maybe if you weren’t such a miserable human being I wouldn’t have heard those rumors and you wouldn’t be replaceable!”

"I'm only replaceable because he's the Duke's son," Isis shot back, "I scored higher marks at the Academy than he did but I was never given the option to join a real unit! And for your information, Mr. Vogelburg, I could pilot circles around you in my Enforcer!"

Kluas merely smiled and let the party die down. Lucan came back from his coat closet combing a hand through his hair. “So how are my cousins getting along?” He asked. His reply was merely icy stares….

It was only two days before the techs had loaded the umpire program into the two Battlemechs. Ironically Lucans cousins would be piloting the same exact Mech types, an old enforcer. The design was solid. The opponents would be fighting in the forest which should nominal give Isis an advantage do to her higher piloting skills. Lucan however knew Kluas having trained with him and fought beside him. He knew that the man would be able to use the terrain to his advantage.

Klaus licked his lips as he launched his Mech forward. There was no line of sight yet but Klaus’s sensors were picking up his prey. For the next few minutes or hours, however long it took, Klaus was a hunter.

Isis wasn’t as bloodthirsty as Klaus and so for the first part of the battle she kept her distance for the most part, moving into the thicker part of the forest. She kept her eyes on the console in front of her searching for a silhouette to paint her cross hairs over. When the trees ahead of her finally parted revealing Klaus’ Enforcer Isis brought all of her weapons to bear and opened fire. However, her aim was hurried and every shot went wide of the target.

Likewise for Klaus’s part his shots went wide slamming into a tree. The low powered training laser failed to ignite the wooded area however. Thinking on his feet the Mechwarrior hit his jump jets sending him into a this area of the forest out of line of sight. He watched his screens as Isis basked out of the clearing and ducked into the protection of the forest. Her current position was on the edge of the forest, Klaus ran forward knocking over trees as he went until he parted the forest in front of him revealing his prey. He fired wildly at the run as Isis turned and fired with her own weapons.

A laser burned into his mechs leg and her autocannon glanced his right arm. The simulated damage report showed that nearly half the armor had been stripped off his arm. Klaus knew he couldn’t afford to lose that arm as it possessed his primary weapon, his Autocannon. Taking a deep breath he took aim again and fired his autocannon tearing into Isis's left torso.

The simulation accounted for the damage done by the autocannon, shredding most of the armor off her left torso. In a desperate move she slammed on her jump jets trying to put some distance between her and Klaus but it wasn’t enough. He followed suit and managed to land behind her bringing his autocannon up and firing it into her unprotected back. Isis managed to return fire with the Large Laser stored in her left arm and the Small Laser in her left torso but both weapons missed the target.

The autocannon fired from Klaus, however, tore through the tender armor located on the back of her machine. The umpire program reported damage to her mech’s gyro and immediately locked up her machine. By some miracle, though, she managed to keep the mech upright but in a panic she hit her jump jets to fly away, a foolish mistake. When the machine landed again she came crashing down with a loud thud that echoed throughout the forest. The impact of the crash jarred her, throwing her neurohelmeted head hard against the console in front of her as the straps of her command chair fought to hold her in place. She could feel a warm trickle of blood running down the side of her face and her vision swam threatening to plunge her in darkness.

Klaus smiled to himself as she fell to the ground and jumped after her. In mid air he fired down at her picking off pieces of armor. He landed softly just in front of Isis and fired again at her. She tried to get up but because of the simulated gyro damage she instead wobbled and fell. Each time she fell there was potential for real damage to be done to her Mech instead of the simulated damage. The woman however wouldn’t quit and kept trying to bring her Mech upright.

“That’s enough!” Duke Franko Vintari’s voice called over the commo just before Klaus was preparing another volley. “I’m turning the umpire system off. There is no point to doing real damage to a perfectly good mech.” Sternly he then said, “It was a well fought match…”

Klaus was smirking again, he knew he was going to beat her the entire time. The two silently brought their Mechs into the bay, neither wanted to speak to the other. Lucan was waiting in the facility. “Got it all out of your system?” he asked sternly. Klaus nodded, “I suppose I blew my chance with her though didn’t I?” Lucan rolled his eyes and walked away.

Climbing the catwalk Klaus moved to intercept Isis as she began to exit her Mech.

As soon as Klaus was in sight of the woman's Enforcer he stopped, his mouth dropping open as a pair of long, bare skinned legs emerged from the mech's cockpit. Isis easily hopped down to the cat walk a few feet below the hatch and straightened up. Her cooling vest was unzipped revealing the tank top she wore underneath that revealed her belly. She wore a pair of short shorts that exposed the majority of her legs, legs that seemed to stretch forever at least to Klaus' eyes, and a pair of combat boots on her feet. She walked right up to Klaus and then passed him, heading over towards her cousin Lucan.

"You got lucky," she threw back over her shoulder, but that was all she said to him.

“We have an over heat.” One of the nearby techs said looking at Klaus. The young man turned to the tech. “That coolant vest should be working overtime about now.” Klaus didn’t say anything, he just stared as Isis walked away. “That’s one of my favorite parts of working here. Watching the Captain get back from her training missions…”

“Tech Sergeant…?” Klaus said questioningly.

“Valchik.”

“Sir?” Klaus said firmly.

“Yes?” the man replied.

“No, you call me sir; I’m an officer and a noble.” Klaus shot back

“Yes sir!” the Tech said shooting back up.

“And if I ever hear you talk about the Lady Vintari like that again I’ll tan your hide.” Klaus went to join Lucan and Isis and then said, “But I do enjoy watching her walk away….” He shot a wink at the Tech Sergeant and moved on.

Isis approached Lucan who smiled at her. “I heard that he handed you a beating.” Shrugging he said, “That’s what he was good at. Tactics.” He wiped a strand of hair out of her face and said, “You did well though.”

"Thanks," she said dryly before grabbing a water bottle offered to her by one of the techs. She screwed the top off the contain and drank longingly for a moment before wiping her mouth with one hand and glancing back at her cousin. "So, you didn't tell me about what happened yesterday," she told him.

Lucan just stared at her questioningly. "What?"

"Your rendezvous with the Loki agent, what exactly did you say to her?"

Lucan smiled softly at his cousin. “Fourteen words.” He said softly caressing her cheek a little, “Fourteen words that work a hundred percent of the time.” The young man’s smile turned into a devilish grin, “Would you like to hear them? My litle cousin.” Isis shifted uncomfortably.

Klaus interrupted the two. “So Isis,” he said loudly, “Loser takes the other out to dinner right? That was our agreement?”

“I didn’t think there was a prize…” Lucan said curiously.

“Of course there was!” Klaus smiled at Isis. “So what do you say? Show a guy the sights of Cartago?”

Isis looked hard at him for a moment and she was about to refuse when a sudden thought occurred to her. "Sure, hun," she said with mock sweetness, "I can show you around, so long as Cousin Lucan gets to come with. Oh, and you're paying."

Then she turned and walked away before Klaus even had a chance to object.

Lucan sat between his two cousins, one staring at the other like a horny school boy, the other sending icy glares back. “So…” Lucan said softly. “I’m thinking of scheduling some drills between the two active Militia battalions.”

James smiled a little, “Do you think it’s a good idea to create that kind of competitive environment?”

Lucan looked dully at him. “You two have already done that.” Lucan replied. “We need to train, and we need to do it in the field. Our recruits are raw and untested.”

“I hear you but…”

“In addition to being my cousin you are also an officer under my command.” Lucan shot, “It’s not for you to reason why.” Loosening up Lucan then said, “But I understand your concerns and I’ve noted them. We need to be ready in case trouble comes.”

“Dracs?” James said, “I doubt it.” He turned his attentions to Isis, "So my lovely lady, you havn't said much tonight..."

"Don't really have much to say," Isis replied before shoving a fork full of her salad into her mouth. "At least not to you," she finished after chewing her food, swallowing it then wiping her mouth with a napkin.

She didn't wait for James' response before glancing over at her cousin. "I don't agree with your little plan," she told him, "Competitive drills are only going to cause rivalries that are going to hurt more than help."

"But you and--," Lucan started to say when Isis interrupted him.

"Mr. Vogelburg here insulted my pride as a warrior. I could not have responded in any other way."